The corporation, which completed the first phase of underground drainage scheme in 2007 to save the Tamirabharani from being polluted, has signed an agreement with Larsen and Toubro to execute the second phase of the project at a cost of ₹ 289.01 crore.
Corporation Commissioner V. Narayanan Nair and General Manager and Head (Wastewater Business), L&T, K.S. Suresh signed the documents on Thursday. Once the second phase is over, the civic body will be able to give 60,000 underground drainage connections in wards 1 - 7, 39 - 55 and part of ward 38.
The corporation has asked the L & T to start the work immediately and ensure quality at every level so as to commission it successfully before the deadline, i.e., three years from the date of commencement of the work.
When the first phase of the scheme was implemented in 2007 on an outlay of ₹52.26 crore, 10 wards – 13, 20, 21, 23, 24 (Palayamkottai zone) and 28, 30 to 33 (Melapalayam) were covered while nine wards in Thatchanallur, seven in Palayamkottai, six in Melapalayam and 13 in Tirunelveli were partially covered.
In the second phase, 24 wards will be covered fully and ward 38 partially. In the third phase, to be executed at a cost of ₹ 440.19 crore, 18 wards will be covered fully and 13 wards partially.
As 50 % cost of this ₹ 729.20-crore project, meant for the second and third phases, will be borne by the Central government under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation Scheme, it will be a relief to the corporation which had to bear 50% of the project cost in the first phase.
Dr. Nair said the quality of the work would be checked with the help of Anna University’s regional office here and the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering Technology (CIPET), Chennai. On the third and final phase of the scheme, he said work order would be given in mid-August.
L & T officials said their engineers had arrived with all equipment to execute the project in time and with minimum disturbance to the public.
